1435 Lischey Ave. Nashville, TN
Circa 1890. 2-story brick Victorian home
7,000 sq ft historic home now a special events venue
From joymansion.com
Gen. William White (1783-1833) was awarded 200 acres in Tennessee for War of 1812 military service. He and Eliza Caroline Wharton White Ogden (1798-1872)(m. 1817) moved west and at first settled in Sumner Co. and practiced law. At some point, he lived on Whites Creek Pike about 1818. In 1822, he purchased 200 acres of Zach. Stull family grant. He built this abode for his daughter. He sold one-half the land to the Lischey family who started Lischey Floral Co. on the farm. A home was also built for a son at 1431 at some point. After White's death, Eliza remarried to Rev. John Wesley Ogden.
The Lischey family sold the home and farm in 1850 to Thomas "Tom" Samuel Joy (1839-1926). He was married twice: Elizbeth Hawkins Joy (1842-1906)(m. 1860) and Ruth P. Anderson McQuiddy Joy (1871-1968)(m. 1923). He and his father T.C. prospered mightily (Joy & Son Floral Co., 1877) and the violet business flourished. In 1882, they acquired 91 acres of land east of the home for their greenhouse operations. His company became the largest violet flower producer in the United States. With his prosperity, Joy constructed a home in 1890. He established a floral empire with greenhouses along the East coast and as far west as Memphis. A sister was Mildred Cowen Joy Gulbenk of Lynnmeade??
In the 1970s, the business and home were sold to the Reinhold Holkamp family. Holkamp (1935-2012) was married to Gisela Holtkamp. He founded the Hermann Holtkamp Greenouses, Inc. They sold under the Optimara label and are the second largest producer in the U.S. Joy Floral Co. had retail and wholesale business in Chattanooga (1915) and Atlanta (1920). The Holtkamp Greenhouses, Inc. companies remains at 1501 Lischey Ave.
Recently, the mansion still had 4 acres. Used as a special events and host to video shoot by a variety of entertainers and musicians. The family is remembered with Tom Joy Elementary School nearby.
Sources:
Nashville: A Short History & Selected Buildings, Historic Commissino of Metro Nashville-Davidson Co., 1974, p. 203